Towels? Reasonable wear and tear?

From the moment they step through the door your bookings become guests, and their experiences determine whether they ever come back.

Should we charge for a guest ruining 50% of their bath towels?

Poll ended at Wed Jul 27, 2005 4:45 pm

Yes, the guests should pay for the towels
4
44%
No, stop your whining and use the towels yourself
5
56%
 
Total votes: 9

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debk
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Towels? Reasonable wear and tear?

Post by debk »

Help! I need some advice.

My husband was over at one of our rentals today to let in a repairman: the washer door got stuck and the tenants couldn't get their laundry out. Whoops! The guest -- who arrived Tuesday with husband and three girls -- said she'd been doing "a ton of laundry" and the washer had been working beautifully, so wasn't upset with us for the problem.

While there, my husband noticed that what was stuck in the washer were two of our white bath towels... along with some of their very dark colored laundry. Concerned, he then noticed that all the towels had already been used by this family and many were stained. (Looks like they've been wiping their shoes off with white bath towels???)

Hubby brought home the four worst towels, taking four replacements out of the locked linen cupboard for the guests.

I sent an email to the guest, apologizing for the situation with the washer repair. (We also left a bottle of wine.) I also mentioned that husband had brought home four stained towels, leaving replacements. I asked that they please use the dark face towels for washing shoes, etc, and/or the rags in the kitchen.

Problem is, I've bleached/spotremoved/washed two of the towels and can't get the stains out. This is the first time I've ever had a ruined towel and I've got four with one group! (Maybe I have more than four ruined towels, because they've still got gobs of other towels at the house. :shock: Thus my email to them. Trying to head off more problems.)

They were lovely towels. Still fluffy... of course ... but I don't put out stained towels for guests so they are worthless for the rentals.

I assume we'll eat the cost, unless we find more towel carnage at checkout. But how many people would charge for this and how many would consider it "cost of doing business"?
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Ciapolin
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Post by Ciapolin »

I can't decide whether the guests should pay or not. Have you thought of dying the stained towels. I know white is preferable, but at least you might get some more use out of them.
Carole-Anne
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Alan Knighting
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Post by Alan Knighting »

Ciapolin wrote:I can't decide whether the guests should pay or not. Have you thought of dying the stained towels. I know white is preferable, but at least you might get some more use out of them.
You could also wash then using a mixture of one part sand and two parts cement then Paolo would approve of them.
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enid
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Post by enid »

Tee hee! :lol: :lol: :lol:
la vache!
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Post by la vache! »

Having just forked out a lot of money myself on new white towels, I would definitely charge them for the damage.
I too like line dried towels, I never use the tumble dryer, except as a last resort (rain rain rain). Back to the towels thread again!
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paolo
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Post by paolo »

Susan wrote:I too like line dried towels, I never use the tumble dryer
Susan, I suspected you were a person of great taste and judgement, and now I know it for sure.

I have lost towels in this way, it looks as though they have used them to wipe off their make-up, and the stain cannot be shifted. I swallow the expense and dip into the piggy bank (so far).
Paolo
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tansy
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Post by tansy »

towels towels towels!!!

I use a melange from everywhere as long as they have seaside on....so mine are white,navy,cream,pale blue you name it...I just don't put out matching sets...so it doesn't matter - I never pay more than 19 Euros per towel for a bath sheet...the dogs have plenty...when the cat has kittens we have plenty...when I need to polish the Aga it is an old towel...when the cars need washing...yes, it's a towel to dry them off....

I love towels - but sorry ladies & gents I refuse to buy big quality jobs because the paying public doesn't care!!

My Greek friend from a very wealthy family tells me that in Greece when they rent somewhere it is accepted that hand towels are provided but you take your own bath towels...maybe we should adopt that?
alexia s.
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Post by alexia s. »

" I refuse to buy big quality jobs because the paying public doesn't care!! "
I think this is true. Our booking form clearly promises all towels (including pool towels), but most people forget & either ring me to ask if they are included or just bring their own.

Why buy white towels? I stopped doing this years ago, when somebody used them to dry dyed hair. So, it's not shoe polish, it's hair dye! Perhaps I should ban blondes.......
Best,
Alexia.
Clexane
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Post by Clexane »

Tansy,

19 Euros a towel ... you must be kidding !!! That is way to much. Check out that site on the towels thread - the towels are great and much cheaper delivered to your door step.

We get our towels cleaned at the local cleaners as we find its not worth the hassle. All towels and sheets for 30 Euro for eight people.

Go white ... why .. because we think they last longer and don't suffer the fade problems of coloured towels.

I would eat the cost of the lost towels but that is in context of not much else going wrong. I have a cumalitive threshold before I start deducting from the security deposit. Never hit it yet but 50 Euros rings a nice tone.
So you wanted a holiday home in france ...

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A-two
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Post by A-two »

I could be wrong, but I think I read on your website that you take a cash deposit at check in and return it to them as they leave. I would not do that personally, as I do not like to inspect the place while they are standing there waiting to leave. Something could easily be overlooked and if there is an issue that needs to be discussed, it's going to leave a bad taste at the end of an otherwise great holiday.

Also, even quite small things irritate me on the changeover day, (like the cutlery all in the wrong drawers!), so I like to leave a little time between finding something untoward and dealing with it, to make sure I am getting a fair perspective.

We only agree the deposit at check-out if it is a long-term unfurnished tenanciy, not a holiday rental.

Our policy is to wave them off with a big smile whatever the state of the place, then return the deposit within 2 weeks, although normally, I write the check/cheque within 48 hours. If they ask about the deposit as they are leaving, I tell them that we need the all-clear from cleaning staff first, then it will be dealt with promptly. (I would say this even if I was the cleaning staff!).

We had one guest who trashed the house, and there was a fight over the deposit because they thought it was normal wear and tear (obviously they treat their own place the same way). Two or three ruined towels was the tip of the iceberg on that occasion. That was a 50% deduction of US$500 (I wanted 100%, but caved in when they threatened to sue me)

Twice I have kept 100% of the deposit because they threw a huge party for about 100 people, (which is explicitly forbidden in the lease and the penalty is made clear) and once I kept it because someone put a foot through the bathroom ceiling while exploring the attic and we had to get it replastered and redecorated. We have since locked the attic.

So in the overall scheme of things, I think if it is only 4 towels , then it is the cost of doing business, although I know that doesn't make you feel any better and I do sympathize.

By the way, I do use all white towels, and find soaking in OXYCLEAN overnight far superior to bleach and no smell. Before you give up on them, try that product. Everyone here swears by it, although possibly not easy for you to get.
Waves from America
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vrooje
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Post by vrooje »

If it were me, I would probably be very tempted to ask them to pay for half of the towels or something. Even if you can use them for washing the car and such, you'll still have to buy new ones for the guests.

But if the deposit had already been returned, I'd know there was no (or very little) chance of them paying, so I'd probably just eat the cost and vow that they'd never be repeat guests.
Brooke
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debk
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Post by debk »

Hi, Everyone!

Thanks so much for the input. I'm in a much better humor now after reading the posts... just what I needed! We'll be doing the checkout tomorrow and expect to find more ruined towels but will just take it in stride. :)

Personally, we're sticking with high-quality, white towels. Mostly because towels are important to ME... but also because it seems that we tend to attract guests like us. I do know that our guests love our towels: I've gotten emails and comments in the guest book. Even one phonecall from a guest wanting to know where to go buy some of her own. (Though they aren't expensive they look/feel/last like expensive ones.)

Yes, I'm the one that takes the deposit in cash and normally returns it at checkout. If the guest has been difficult or gives me a "bad feeling", I keep the deposit and return it by check after I've had a chance to inspect.

In actuality, the deposit couldn't begin to cover any real damage... it's mostly meant as a reminder to the guest to tidy up after themselves and be on their best behavior. That's why I insist on the deposit in cash, too. Handing me cold, hard cash makes an impression on the guest, every time. All in all, we've come out way ahead with our guests. I just need to remember all the wonderful gifts we've received from them to put things in perspective. (Maybe we should start a thread on that? My favorites are coffeetable books and fine wines.)

Anyhoo, I really really have no right to complain about eating the towels. But it was sure nice to have a place to do so. My husband was shocked that a family could be so negligent. :shock:

Hmmm. Wonder if I should soak in oxyclean before or after washing in cement?
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tansy
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Post by tansy »

debk...I take it from all the spelling you are American - with lots American guests...it would be interesting to hear who are the guests trashing the towels....what nationality?
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debk
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Post by debk »

Tansy, your note is amusing because I actually had to change humour to humor and behaviour to behavior in my last post. I find many extraneous "u"s creeping into my life these days... so, yes, I'm American but most of our guests are not.
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Post by alexia s. »

Debk,
I'm glad you resisted changing "extraneous" to "extraneos".
Best,
Alexia.
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